BOROUGH opposition leaders have rubbished a revised budget issued by Dudley Council chiefs as they attempt to plug the biggest funding gap in history.

Council leaders were yesterday (Monday) trumpeting their new plan to cut a predicted £50million shortfall to just under £21million – in part by raising council tax by four per cent each year for the next four years.

But UKIP group leader in Dudley, councillor Paul Brothwood, said the council’s financial predicament remains a worry and he accused the controlling Labour group of bringing “the borough to its knees”.

He said: “They’re in a right old mess. They’re still going to have a huge deficit in 2018/19.

“They’ve just not planned long-term.”

He said UKIP councillors in Dudley would not be supporting the budget which proposes making savings of £8million in 2016/17, up to £18million by 2017/18 and £20million by 2018/19.

He told the News: “They’ve looked at the wrong areas. They’re focussing on the front line and I don’t agree with the closure of Dudley Museum. The borough is in real difficulty. They should hold their heads in shame. We’re not going to vote for this budget. We won’t agree with some of the areas they’re cutting.”

Meanwhile – Dudley’s Conservative leader, councillor Patrick Harley, has also slammed the revised budget as “the same old, same old”.

He said: “For the past three years I’ve been banging the drum to find a different delivery model but they’ve point blank refused to consider using the private sector and they’ve not looked at setting up arms-length companies.

“I can’t see us supporting the budget. They’re cutting services until there’s nothing left to cut. We can’t support the way they continue to do business.”

Both are calling for the handsomely paid current chief executive Sarah Norman to be the authority’s last in a bid to save cash – with cllr Brothwood branding the £165,000 position an “absolute waste of money”. He added: “We’re also calling for a cap on agency staff and interims – we just can’t afford them.”